Feeling the beat at Napier Botanical Gardens

Published: 15 December 2017

Project Prima Volta and Beatles tribute act The Magical Majesties head the bill for January's Botanic Beats.

Some of the team behind BNZ Botanic Beats (from left): Kevin Murphy, NCC's Event Manager; Anna Pierard, musician and Project Prima Volta founder' Dan Fulton, muso and member of The Magical Majesties; and Jason Forbes, BNZ Managing Partner.

BNZ has come on board as the major sponsor of Botanic Beats, set to take place on Thursday 11 January.

The free event, held at the stunning Napier Botanical Gardens between 6pm and 8pm on this date, will feature top local acts Project Prima Volta and The Magical Majesties.

BNZ Managing Partner Jason Forbes says the Bank of New Zealand is very happy to support this summer twilight event. “The Napier Botanical Gardens is a wonderful place. We could see from the interest last year that it is a popular venue, and people will utilise it if they have something enjoyable and fun to go to. So it’s our pleasure to assist in providing this special event for the Napier community.”

Outside of the annual Carols by Candlelight event and a few weddings, the Napier Botanical Gardens isn’t used for any other major events. It’s fantastic for the city to use this magic area of Napier, says Kevin Murphy, Event Manager, Napier City Council. “It’s similar to many other cities, like Wellington’s Botanic Garden Soundshell area that has a long standing music series over summer running over three weeks.”

BNZ's Jason Forbes: "The Napier Botanical Gardens is a wonderful place. It's our pleasure to assist in providing this special event for the Napier community.”

The Magical Majesties is a Beatles tribute act. Band members James Rochester, Dan Fulton, Jonny Meechan and Andrew Gladstone are looking forward to sharing classics such as Paperback Writer, She Loves You, Come Together and Hey Jude with the crowd. 

Members of Project Prima Volta (PPV), a programme run by renowned opera singer and Festival Opera co-founder Anna Pierard, will perform a mixture of music from operas to pop, designed to appeal to a wide range of people

Project Prima Volta (first time in Italian) is a weekly run mentoring programme for young people from all over Hawke’s Bay, with a focus on finding voices and shaping futures through music. Project Prima Volta collaborates with Festival Opera for its annual production, held every February during the Art Deco Festival. All PPV members will go on to sing onstage and work behind the scenes in next year’s Madama Butterfly. Two young singers will share the role of Goro in the opera.

Napier’s music lovers are urged to keep the time and date free – and mark it on the 2018 calendar. Picnics are encouraged, or food and coffee can be purchase on-site.

BNZ Botanic Beats is weather-dependent. Please check Napier City Council’s Facebook page for updates.

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